Saturday, November 10, 2018

360 Vintage Vegas: Howard Hughes (PCP)

It’s a shame that the last 10 years of his life largely overshadows all he accomplished prior to his decent into madness. Truth be told, Howard Hughes was a genius; an innovator in business, aviation, film and in his lifetime, was one of the most financially successful people in the world. His work ethic was legendary as was his disregard for his own safety, especially when it came to his first true love, flying. That disregard would eventually cause him to be involved in the plane crash of an experimental aircraft that almost killed him. While he did eventually recover, he would never be the same. In chronic pain for the rest of his life, his over medication to address the issue pushed his struggles with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder into stratospheric levels, causing him to become the eccentric recluse most remember him for. Despite all that, what Hughes did during his time in Las Vegas helped the market evolve from the seedy place run by mobsters to a respectable industry; even if that wasn’t his intention and resulted purely because it was his name attached to the legendary great acquisition of Las Vegas

Whatever you think you know about Howard Hughes, he was undeniably a genius by any definition of the word. The Hughes family made their millions by creating a drill bit that dramatically improved the way oil was drilled for. At the age of 19, after his father's death, Howard took over ToolCo and used his family’s wealth to revolutionize multiple industries. With RKO Studios, he changed the way movies were made, introducing violence and sex to the cinema. He was one of the leading innovators in aviation, setting multiple world records. That knowledge was so valued, Hughes Aircraft become one of the US government’s largest private contractors for military planes, and his commercial airline TWA was a leader in the evolution of commercial flight. Sadly it was his refusal to be confined by the metaphorical walls he was told he had to operate within, in whatever he decided we wanted to do, that ended up causing him to be confined by the actual walls he would spent last 20 years of his life in, seclude from the world. And even in those constraints, he was able to change, not only another industry but the reputation of an entire state, all while in constant pain, terrified of just about everything imaginable outside of that room on the 9thfloor of the Desert Inn. Even if what he accomplished was nothing more than a symbolic shift in the gaming industry, Howard Hughes will forever be known as one of the most important people involved in the evolution of Las Vegas.